Typewriter ribbon cartridge for endless loop ribbon

ABSTRACT

A cartridge for housing an endless loop of ribbon for typewriters or like machines is disclosed. The cartridge includes a housing having a base plate, a storage compartment and a cover and an arm extending from the housing for guiding the ribbon from the housing to a print point and back to the housing. The arm is pivotally mounted on a fulcrum on the base plate and is normally spring biased to a rest position. The fulcrum has a surface forming an oblique angle with the base plate and an upstanding member is provided on the base plate also having a surface forming an oblique angle therewith for guiding the pivotal movement of the arm. A tapered plane adjusting roller is provided between the arm adjacent an input feed mechanism to the storage compartment having a pair of split friction rollers spring biased toward each other for engaging the ribbon and stuffing it into a storage area in random convolutions. Strippers extending from the split portions of the friction rollers prevent the stuffed ribbon from winding upon the rollers. A swivel free barrel shaped roller is provided adjacent an output gate comprised of a ramp and a plurality of alternating projections defining an exit path to prevent the flow of ribbon in convolutions from the storage compartment. The arm, storage compartment and cover are removably secured to the base plate by means enabling automatic assembly or hand assembly without the use of tools.

United States Patent [191 Cappotto Aug. 20, 1974 TYPEWRITER RIBBON CARTRIDGE FOR ENDLESS LOOP RIBBON [75] Inventor: Samuel D. Cappotto, Syracuse, NY.

[73] Assignee: SCM Corporation, New York, N.Y.

[22] Filed: Sept. 13, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 288,830

[52] US. Cl. 197/168, 197/151 [511 Int. Cl B4lj 33/10 [58] Field of Search 197/151, 153 R, 160, 168;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 225,203 3/1880 Abele 197/151 X 539,683 5/1895 Johns 197/168 764,342 7/1904 Booth 197/168 1,063,289 6/1913 Ruffin et a1... 197/168 2,685,357 8/1954 Koreska 197/168 2,803,331 8/1957 Berill 197/153 R 2,825,450 3/1958 Lambert 197/151 X 3,075,627 1/1963 Kuchhoff 197/151 3,481,551 12/1969 Steelman 242/71.8 A 3,568,943 3/1971 Robak 242/71.l X 3,621,968 11/1971 Kondur 197/151 3,632,052 l/1972 Read 197/160 3,643,777 2/1972 Anderson et al. 197/151 3,643,778 2/1972 Anderson 197/151 3,643,779 2/1972 Anderson et a1. 197/151 3,682,407 8/1972 Lichtenstein et al. 197/151 X 3,726,381 4 1973 Murphy 197/168 Primary ExaminerErnest T. Wright, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or FirmMilt0n M. Wolson; Harvey Zeller; John A. Taylor 57 ABSTRACT A cartridge for housing an endless loop of ribbon for typewriters or like machines is disclosed. The cartridge includes a housing having a base plate, a storage compartment and a cover and an arm extending from the housing for guiding the ribbon from the housing to a print point and back to the housing. The arm is pivotally mounted on a fulcrum on the base plate and is normally spring biased to a rest position. The fulcrum has a surface forming an oblique angle with the base plate and an upstanding member is provided on the base plate also having a surface forming an oblique angle therewith for guiding the pivotal movement of the arm. A tapered plane adjusting roller is provided between the arm adjacent an input feed mechanism to the storage compartment having a pair of split friction rollers spring biased toward each other for engaging the ribbon and stuffing it into a storage area in random convolutions. Strippers extending from the split portions of the friction rollers prevent the stuffed ribbon from winding upon the rollers. A swivel free barrel shaped roller is provided adjacent an output gate comprised of a ramp and a plurality of alternating projections defining an exit path to prevent the flow of ribbon in convolutions from the storage compartment. The arm, storage compartment and cover are removably secured to the base plate by means enabling automatic assembly or hand assembly without the use of tools.

2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PAIENTEDmzomu man TYPEWRITER RIBBON CARTRIDGE FOR ENDLESS LOOP RIBBON BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to typewriter ribbon cartridges and particularly to typewriter ribbon cartridges of the type adapted to be inserted into the typewriter without the need of threading the ribbon through a ribbon lift mechanism in the typewriter. More specifically, the present invention relates to and is an improvement of the typewriter ribbon cartridges disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,643,777 entitled TYPE- WRITER RIBBON CARTRIDGE and U.S. Pat. No. 3,643,779 entitled RIBBON MECHANISM FOR CAR- TRIDGE SUPPORTED RIBBONS both granted on Feb. 22, 1972 and U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 150,946 filed June 9, 1971 entitled TYPEWRITER RIBBON CARTRIDGE all assigned to the assignee of the instant application.

Ribbon cartridges and other devices for typewriters or like printing machines have been provided to assist in the installation of ribbons into such machines and to minimize the soiling of fingers during such process. In this connection, a recent advance in the art of typewriter ribbon cartridges has been the development of typewriter ribbon cartridges of the type disclosed in the above referred to patents and application assigned to the present assignee. These cartridges employ a housing for a supply of ribbon and a carrier arm laterally extending from the housing for guiding the ribbon from the housing to a print point within the typewriter and back to the housing.

These cartridges are laterally insertable in the typewriter to a position where the arm is engaged by a lift mechanism in the typewriter. Thus, there is no need for threading of the ribbon nor other manipulations which are time consuming and cause soiling of the fingers. Furthermore, the cartridges are removable by laterally sliding the cartridge from the typewriter thus enabling easy replacement or variation in color or type of ribbon, e.g. carbon ribbon or fabric ribbon.

While some ribbons such as carbon ribbons are usable for only a single cycle, ribbons such as fabric ribbons may be used with satisfactory results for many cycles. Thus, it is of advantage to enable the use of the cartridges employing such fabric ribbons for a multiple of cycles.

In order to achieve multiple cycle ribbon cartridges, it has been found desirable to employ an endless loop of ribbon, thus, avoiding the need for end of ribbon sensing means and ribbon reverse mechanisms. One type of ribbon in endless loop form is of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 539,683 entitled RIBBON MECHANISM FOR TYPEWRITERS and U.S. Pat. No. 764,342 entitled TYPE WRITING MACHINE wherein the ribbon is stuffed into a compartment in folds or convolutions. A cartridge having ribbon stuffed therein in such convolutions, however, presents a number of problems relating to maximum use of the storage compartment and minimizing the force required to withdraw the ribbon from the compartment as well as preventing the ribbon from being withdrawn in convolutions which may cause snagging when such ribbon is pulled through the carrier arm of the cartridge.

It is therefore the object of the instant invention to achieve an economical typewriter ribbon cartridge of the type having an arm extending therefrom for guiding a ribbon from a housing to a print point and back to the housing and employing an endless loop of ribbon which may be recycled wherein the flow of ribbon is highly reliable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention consists of a typewriter ribbon cartridge having a housing and a ribbon carrier arm laterally extending therefrom for guiding a ribbon from the housing to the print point and back to the housing. The arm is pivotally mounted on the base of the housing at an oblique angle thereto for movement to the print point during a typing operation and is normally biased to a rest position on the base. A ribbon supply or storage compartment is provided in the housing having a ribbon entrance and egress. Adjacent the entrance is a plane adjusting roller to orient the ribbon for entry to the supply or storage compartment through a pair of friction feed rollers which stuff the ribbon into the compartment in random convolutions. Strippers are provided cooperating with the feed rollers to prevent binding. The egress is defined by a ramp and a plurality of alternating projections on each side of the ramp for preventing the flow of ribbon from the compartment in convolutions. A swivel free roller is mounted adjacent the ramp to reduce friction and assist in the withdrawal of the ribbon free of convolutrons.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a typewriter having the typewriter ribbon cartridge of the instant invention therein;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the typewriter ribbon cartridge of the instant invention including its relationship to the platform upon which it is mounted in the typewriter;

FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of the typewriter ribbon cartridge of the instant invention with its cover removed;

FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of the typewriter ribbon cartridge of the instant invention mounted upon a platform with portions broken away to show the interior mechanisms;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the interior of the cartridge cover as viewed from its bottom.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawing and specifically to FIG. 1, there is disclosed generally the typewriter ribbon cartridge 10 of the instant invention mounted in a typewriter 12. The cartridge 10 includes a housing or housing section 14 and a ribbon guide or carrier arm 16 laterally extending from the housing section 14. The present invention is not concerned with the specifics of the carrier arm 16 which is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 3,777,841 to Aaron C. Zeamer and assigned to the present assignee. Thus, only so much of the carrier arm 16 will be described herein as is necessary to understand the instant invention and reference may be had to said application for further details.

The carrier arm 16 has a stud 18 which projects therefrom to engage lever 20 of lift mechanism 22 of the typewriter 12 when the cartridge 10 is inserted in the typewriter 12. An aperture 24 is provided in the carrier arm 16 adjacent typebar guide 26 to expose a portion of the ribbon 36 to a type element 176 of the typewriter 12.

Referring next to FIGS. 2-5, the cartridge housing 14 includes a base 30, a cover 32 and a ribbon storage platform 34 mounted between the base 30 and cover 32 for storing a supply of ribbon 36. The platform 34 is mounted upon the base 30 by means of three pins 31 (only one of which is shown in FIG. 2) which mate with elements 33 on base 30. A plurality of studs 35 (also only one of which is shown in FIG. 2) are provided to further support the platform 34 on base 30.

The platform 34 has ribbon confiningflanges 38 and 40 partially extending therearound defining a ribbon storage area or compartment 178 having a ribbon en trance section generally designated 42 and an exit or ribbon egress section generally designated 44. Mounted in theentrance section 42 is split friction feed roller 46 which is molded integral and coaxial with gear 48 upon shaft 50, the lower end of which is free to rov tate in cylindrical pivot 52 and the upper end of which is free to rotate in circular aperture 59. A channel 56 is provided between the lower portion of split friction roller 46 and gear 48 for mounting the friction roller and gear unit 46 -and 48 in arcuate section 58 of platform 34. A stripper 60 is mounted between the upper and lower portions of split friction roller 46 having a C-shaped section 62 with the access thereto slightly smaller than the diameter of the section between the upper and lower portions of split friction roller 46 and the central aperture slightly greater than such diameter whereby the split friction roller 46 is snap fitted in the stripper 60 and free to rotate with respect thereto. The stripper 60 is restrained from movement when mounted upon platform 34 by stud 64 and flange 40.

Also mounted in the entrance section 42 is split idler friction roller 66. Roller 66 is mounted upon stripper 68 in C-shaped section 70 in snap fit relationship as described above with respect to split friction roller 46. Stripper 68 is in the form of a bellcrank and has a central cylindrical portion 72'which is pivotally supported on stud 74 and resilient arm 76 which may be integral therewith or preferably a leaf spring connected thereto between sections 78 and 80. When this unit is mounted upon platform 34, arm 76 is flexed against flange 38 of the platform 34 to apply a counterclockwise moment to the stripper 68 thereby biasing split idler friction roller 66 against split feed friction roller 46 and the ribbon 36 therebetween.

Tapered roller 82 is mounted upon stud 84 on platform '34 adjacent the entrance section 42 to adjust the plane of ribbon 36 coming from the carrier arm 16 as to be explained hereinafter.

A corridor indicated generally at 180 of platform 34 includes an inclined floor or ramp 86 bordered on one side thereof by a wall 182 of flange 40. Projections 88, 90 and 92 extend from the wall 182 of flange 40 bordering ramp 86 and alternate with projections 94 and 96 projecting from a side wall 184 of cover 32 and which are situated on the opposite side of ramp 86 when the cover 32 is placed over the platform 34.

Journaled in the egress section 44 is a barrel shaped of ribbon 36 being pulled therearound. it has been .found inpractice that permitting the barrel shaped roller 98 to swivel is effective to substantially decrease climbing of the ribbon ,36 which could cause binding and snagging. On the opposite side of ramp 86 from roller 98 are projections 102 and 104.

Also in the corridor 180 but on the inside of the wall 184 of cover 32 is projection 106. This projection 106 is in alignment with projection 92 of platform 34.

The carrier arm 16 has a stud 110 which rests on open fulcrum 112 and is secured to the base 30 by spring 114 which has one end secure in aperture 116 of fulcrum 112 and which has its opposite end hooked over hook-like tab 118 on carrier arm 16. Thus, spring 114 maintains carrier arm 16 in a normal rest position against base 30. Projection 120 in cover 32 aligns with stud 110 when the cartridge 10 is assembled to prevent carrier arm 16 from being accidentally knocked off fulcrum 112. Surface 122 of fulcrum 112 is at an oblique angle to base 30 as is surface 124 of member 126 and edge 128 of cover 32. Thus, carrier arm 16 is mounted for pivotal movement in a plane oblique to the base 30. Stop 130 limits movement of carrier arm 16.

Cover 32 fits within flanges 132 and 134 of base 30 and has wedge-shaped projections 135 thereon which engage flanges 132 and 134 at apertures 138. Studs are provided to insure the secure connection of projections 135 in apertures 138 and thus the secure connection of cover 32 to base 30.

Platform 142 is particularly suitable for supporting the cartridge 10 of the instant invention, but does not form a part thereof. Thus, only so much of the platform 142 will be described herein as is necessary to understand the present invention. The platform 142 has a floor 144 and a pair of parallel flanges 146 and 148 having lips 150 and 152 thereon, respectively. Cartridge 10 is insertable into the platform 142 by placing flanges 132 and 134 under lips 150 and 152, respectively, and laterally sliding the cartridge 10 into the position shown in FIG. 1. Carrier arm 16 is maintained at the correct orientation by spring 114 for stud 18 to enter the slot 186 in lever 20. The central portion 154 of base 30 is higher than its ends 156 and 158 to permit gear 160 to fit beneath base 30 (which gear 160 is used with another cartridge disclosed in a copending US Pat. application Ser. No. 288,635 filed Sept. 13, 1972 entitled TYPEWRITER HAVING RIBBON CAR- TRIDGE not constituting part of the instant invention and, thus, not disclosed herein) and to permit the securement of the cartridge 10 to the platform 142 by latch 162 as disclosed in the application Serial No. 288,635.- The latch 162 is removable from engagement with the cartridge 10 by pressing a lever 164 which is operatively associated therewith also as disclosed in the application Ser. No. 288,635.

Feed mechanism 166 is also particularly suitable for use with cartridge 10 of the instant invention. This mechanism 166 includes a power driven chamfered gear 168 meshed with a driven chamfered gear 170 on pulley wheel 172. Pulley wheel 172 is coaxial with drive gear 174 and is rigid therewith. Thus, rotation of pulley wheel 172 by the power driven gear 168 causes equal angular rotation of gear 174. Gear 174 meshes with gear 48 in the cartridge 10 causing rotation of that gear 48 and split friction roller 46. It is to be noted that only the portion of the feed mechanism 166 relevant to feeding the ribbon 36 of the.cartridgc 10 of the instant invention has been described herein.

Ribbon 36 flows in a path from the storage compartment 178 on storage platform 34 around barrel shaped roller 98 down ramp 86 where projections 88, 90, 92, 94, 96, 102, 104 and 106 cooperate to eliminate any convolutions in ribbon 36 and, thus, to prevent entanglement and snagging, along the lower half of carrier arm 16 where it is protected by shield 17, around the V-shaped end of carrier arm 16 where it is protected by cap 19 to the upper half of carrier arm 16, past the aperture 24 where it is exposed to a type element 176, back along the upper half of carrier arm 16, around tapered roller 82 which reorients the ribbon 36 to a plane insuring that the lower edge of the ribbon 36 engages the lower portion of a split friction roller 46 to minimize the possibility of the ribbon 36 climbing over the split friction roller 46, between rollers 46 and 66 and into the storage compartment 178 of platform 34.

In operation, during each typing action lift mechanism 22 functions to lift carrier arm 16 and thus raise ribbon 36 in aperture 24 at an oblique angle toward the print point 188 in the typewriter 12 where a character is transferred to a record medium by the type element 176 striking the ribbon 36.

The ribbon feed is also operated during type action either before or after the type element 176 strikes the ribbon 36. During the feed, power driven gear 168 rotates counterclockwise to rotate pulley wheel 172 clockwise thus causing gear 174 to rotate clockwise. This results in counterclockwise rotation of gear 48 and split friction roller 46. Ribbon 36 which is frictionally engaged between rollers 46 and 66 in the cartridge is thus pulled through carrier arm 16 from storage compartment egress section 44 as roller 46 rotates counterclockwise to drive idler roller 66 clockwise and stuff the ribbon 36 from carrier arm 16 into the storage compartment 178. Since gear 174 is rotated a fixed angular distance for each type action, the ribbon feed is in uniform incremental amounts. Thus, there is an efficient usage of the ribbon 36.

The above described embodiment of the instant invention is preferably made of plastic with the exception of spring 114, cap 19 and leaf spring 76. Furthermore, all of the component parts of the cartridge 10 including carrier arm 16, the various rollers 44, 66, 82, and 98, platform 34 and cover 32 can be assembled and/or secured to the base 30 without the use of tools. Thus, economic manufacture of the cartridge 10 may be accomplished either manually or by automated machinery.

While a preferred embodiment of the instant invention has been described for illustrative purposes, many modifications and variations will now become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art. It is, thus, desired that the scope of the present invention not be limited by the foregoing but rather by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An improved cartridge for a ribbon for a typewriter having means for driving the ribbon, the cartridge having a housing with a storage area for the ribbon and an exit for the ribbon at the outer lateral periphery of the storage area and means in the housing for feeding the ribbon and engaging the driving means in the typewriter, wherein the improvement comprises:

a. a side wall for the storage area for the ribbon and another side wall outside the storage area in the housing forming a corridor for the ribbon outside the storage area beginning near the exit for the ribbon from the storage area, the corridor having an inclined floor to change the level of the ribbon withdrawn from the storage area by the feeding means;

b. a plurality of projections on the side walls of the corridor to guide the ribbon and to capture any convolutions of the ribbon pulled from the storage area other than a single strand of the ribbon; and

c. a roller for the ribbon journaled in the storage area near the exit in the path of the ribbon from the storage area to facilitate withdrawal of the ribbon from the storage area by the feeding means.

2. The cartridge of claim 1 in which at least some of the projections on the side walls are staggered. 

1. An improved cartridge for a ribbon for a typewriter having means for driving the ribbon, the cartridge having a housing with a storage area for the ribbon and an exit for the ribbon at the outer lateral periphery of the storage area and means in the housing for feeding the ribbon and engaging the driving means in the typewriter, wherein the improvement comprises: a. a side wall for the storage area for the ribbon and another side wall outside the storage area in the housing forming a corridor for the ribbon outside the storage area beginning near the exit for the ribbon from the storage area, the corridor having an inclined floor to change the level of the ribbon withdrawn from the storage area by the feeding means; b. a plurality of projections on the side walls of the corridor to guide the ribbon and to capture any convolutions of the ribbon pulled from the storage area other than a single strand of the ribbon; and c. a roller for the ribbon journaled in the storage area near the exit in the path of the ribbon from the storage area to facilitate withdrawal of the ribbon from the storage area by the feeding means.
 2. The cartridge of claim 1 in which at least some of the projections on the side walls are staggered. 